Studies on the thermodynamics and dynamics of synthetic, rodlike biopolymers which form ordered, liquid crystalline phases will be continued, with particular emphasis on dynamic studies. These include the kinetics of the liquid crystal phase formation, and the kinetics of the formation of the gel phase. The morphology of the gel phase will be studied by microscopy, rheology and light scattering techniques. Biological macromolecules which are either rodlike or which polymerize to form rodlike structures will be studied by techniques similar to our previous and current studies on synthetic, rodlike bioploymers. The purpose of this work is to understand why and how rodlike biopolymers spontaneously organize into ordered phases.